1930's in USA

The great depression are the years of decline that the world went through after the crash of the American stock market. The stock market declined in 1929 yet in most countries the great depression is known as 1930 to the late 30's/early 40's this meant that it was just before World War II.
The great depression saw an economical decline which effected both poor and wealthy families, the end of the great depression is usually marked by World War II by historians yet there is no real proof except that it did bring the unemployment levels down and the last effects ended when America joined the war.

Photography in 1930's

With the start of documentary photography in the early 20th century the great depression was documented by many photographers.

Dorothy Lange

The images above are by photographer Dorothy Lange and are dated during the years of the great depression. The image to the left is called 'The Migrant Woman' and documents a woman with her children.

The woman in the picture looks troubled due to her pose and facial expressions, she is also said to be aged 32 yet she looks much older which suggests she has had a stressful life. The way her children are holding her suggests that she is close to them as they look as though they are gaining comfort from her. All these factors suggest that she is struggling to cater for her children due to the great depression.

The image is quite contrasty which makes all the textures visible this is vital in the image as it shows the woman's wrinkles and the worn materials of the clothing.

Walker Evans

Walker Evans produced a lot of work during the Great Depression that documents the effects it had on people and the struggles they undertook.